Well, this is something we should have seen coming a long time ago, but it’s shocking news nonetheless. After all, WWE has turned themselves into who they are by getting rid of any competition they had in their way.

WWE bought up every big star during the territory days and later bought out as many regional promotions as possible. They have acquired every tape library they have been able to get their hands on, and have made the WWE Network consist of just about every televised professional wrestling match ever.

Now it looks like WWE is moving even closer to a deal which would buy Ring Of Honor from Sinclair Broadcasting. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports these negotiations between WWE and ROH have been ongoing since at least January and have been “slowly progressing, with the plan being a full takeover if the deal is made official.”

If the company were to acquire ROH it would absorb arguably NXT’s biggest competition in regards to being the top spot for big independent names to go and apply their craft. But, don’t fret if you are thinking ROH will be gone forever because the plan would include airing ROH’s weekly show on the WWE Network. Therefore, the plan is most likely to keep the company together to a certain extent.

The report notes this is an ongoing situation and there is no actual deal on the table just yet. A lot of things can go wrong when you’re talking about a large acquisition like this, but apparently, ground is being made on the deal.

It seems like both NXT and ROH weekly shows would air on the Network. I guess it would be like RAW/Smackdown but for "developmental" where they split all of their talent between the two. It isn't a terrible idea since NXT lacks a midcard title and it would be nice to have two champions.

One of the rumors that we have been asked about over the last 24 hours is one claiming that WWE is negotiating to purchase Ring of Honor from The Sinclair Broadcast Group. The story actually began circulating about three weeks back and was a topic of conversation among wrestlers at the 15th Anniversary PPV in Las Vegas. At the time, numerous sources within each company denied there were any sale talks, much less a deal in place. Last night, when the rumors began floating around online, we were again told there was nothing to a sale story.

It should be noted, however, that according to a WWE source, there have been off and on conversations between the companies in recent months but those talks were surrounding the possibility of the WWE Network carrying the Ring of Honor TV show, similar to deals in place that will eventually see PROGRESS Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling broadcast as "independent wrestling" content on the WWE Network.

While no deal has been signed, the idea would be that WWE license that material from ROH, something ROH COO Joe Koff has said in the past he would be open to, if it was the right deal for Ring of Honor. In the past, WWE licensed material from Sinclair for a number of projects, including the CM Punk documentary. We are told there has also been interest in licensing material for future DVDs, which makes sense considering there are Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins DVDs set for release in the coming months.

If a deal goes through, ROH TV would air on the WWE Network just as it airs currently on COMET TV, The Fite App and on Sinclair affiliate stations, but again, no deal has been completed as of this writing.

The thing is indy shows in general run things without WWE influence. Let's say they wanted to do a Chris Benoit memorial match there is no "WWE law" stopping them. I can't see WWE allowing "lawless" entities to broadcast as is on their own network.

The thing is indy shows in general run things without WWE influence. Let's say they wanted to do a Chris Benoit memorial match there is no "WWE law" stopping them. I can't see WWE allowing "lawless" entities to broadcast as is on their own network.

With all of the various implications this would involve (if true), it's funny that the first two concerns somebody would have with the potential buyout would be:

1) Will WWE mention a kid-toucher in future ROH documentaries
2) Will WWE allow tributes to a double-murderer

You'd think most people (all, honestly) would have a million other thoughts come up before Chris Hansen's favorite promoter and Benoit were ever on their radar screen.

Never said they would or wouldn't mention. Just wondered if they'd outright lie. Since this is ROH it's relevant.

And he was never caught by Chris Hansen.

Benoit I gave as an example to illustrate a larger point. Going any further than that is over analyzing (although WWE honored Snuka after his death so they are hypocrites, technically Snuka was charged at some point Benoit never was).